WaterShip Down: No Leaders Left
by 4fireking
Summary: A young small and helpless rabbit loses his enter warren when a foolish seer leads dangerous elil's to his home. He alone tries to rebuild a new warren even though he was the smallest and weakest of all the other Bucks. He faces Hare's who want to pin him down, dangerous elil, and the giant machines man uses to destroy homes and lives.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own Watership Down

**After watching the old animated movie and then the animated CGI movie I decided to try a Watership Down fanfiction. I hope this first chapter isn't too weird. **

* * *

Rabbits don't know about the Doppler effect. What Frith gives for the wilderness, the unmentioned moon god takes from the forest. The same could be said about homes: one lives happily, while the other is starving. So Frith be praised, today was a day to rejoice.

The owsla left a few hours before, leaving five bucks and five does all alone with nine kittens.

A sepia brown buck of eight pounds, with light brown eyes and black fur all the way from his nose to his forehead, was reflecting on his life. The Black Rabbit came last night and took his father away. One moment he was getting his father a carrot, and when he came back his father was gone.

The sable rabbit senior was dead, having died a better death than being slaughtered by a fox or a dog. The senior rabbit had helped distract a wolf that was chasing his owsla, saving a dozen lives. He was highly respected, and his son became disregarded as a soldier in the eyes of the bucks and does.

The young sable rabbit's name was Ebony Jr. The "Ebony" name came from the nose shared by many sables. His favourite food was cabbage, his favourite poetry was "Eight Nights to the Four Rivers". He had limited combat experience; most of it consisted of getting through the puff of fur to kick an angora buck.

Even though the same number of bucks and does were nesting, two mates were lying down nuzzling their wet noses together. Their names were Vesta and Blue. When a buck and a doe mate, they either stay together forever, or they stay together to raise a family. Ebony twitched his nose, smelling out the doe with the most attractive scent.

Suddenly, another buck rammed into Ebony with his nose against his chest, protected by his feet. The buck was a argente rabbit, a light grey-coated buck with lots of pink bulging out of his red eyes and round ears. Ebony wondered why Hop Foo had done that, other than being a self-proclaimed seer.

"There are few seers in a burrow, but that doesn't mean you can hit me like a cat grabbing me." Ebony said. "Did you have a mental breakdown?"

"Ebony, you and only you can help me!" Hop Foo screamed. "I've seen the cost of being here. We have to find the owsla quickly!"

"What? We are here to protect the kits. We can't just leave the burrow: it's desertion."

"Ebony, think about all the predators that could slaughter us if we lose our owsla. You can't just stay here and not do anything to help." Hop Foo stared into Ebony's eyes only to see the eyes of a Quaker with a black nose just shaking with the aroma of a doe. Hop Foo charged away. "Ebony, your father would be very disappointed in you."

Hop Foo didn't even bother asking the other bucks, or even the does, if they would help; instead, he left.

Ebony found two attractive does talking. There was Dawnrose, a Britannia Petite doe, with two big flaps of skin coming out her back, green eyes, and white coat that looked like snow. Her friend Maggie was a Cinnamon Rabbit. Her coat was bright brown in the front and black like Ebony's nose in the rear. Her eyes were big, bulgy and black, and her ears were like a human woman's fingers. Ebony cleared his throat to get the two does' attention.

"Hello, Dawnrose. I just want you to know I found apples under a tree and would be willing to share them with you...if you come with me to nibble on them," Ebony said, sighing in relief after he had finished.

"You are asking if I would like to go somewhere with you, Ebony?" Dawnrose asked. "I'll need some time to think about it."

Ebony didn't wait for her answer. He wanted to roll around in the cornfield at the bottom of the biggest hill their warren was on. Having all that rough corn would feel good against his coat, and he would be hard to find.

The sound of a bird pulling out a worm and bees buzzing towards the flowers made Ebony's perky ears soften just a little, until the most devastating moment to ever happen in the warren. Hop Foo could be heard running back, panting in his breath. He heard multiple feet stomping on the ground and a deep growl behind him.

Ebony's fears were bona fide, and even worse than he imagined. Two wolves were chasing the fast and self-proclaimed seer Hop Foo, or Hop Fool to be more accurate. The bucks in the warren also noticed the wolves and commanded the does to take the kittens far away. Ebony, not a warrior but still willing to die to protect the does and younglings, scrambled out of the corn field and dashed towards Hop Foo.

One of the wolves saw the four most courageous bucks anyone could ever ask for. Their plan: rush towards the wolves in a circle, try to distract them with their teeth on the legs, so their anger would make it hard for them to decide who to bite. They were tricked: a lone buck, whose name was Redder due to his red coat, was bitten by a wolf.

Ebony didn't stop, even though blood and crying was the only endearment the wolf was giving to Redder. Another buck – Napkin – nibbled on one of the wolf's hind legs. That small nibble hurt like a bee stung its butt. The wolf changed directions and chased Napkin.

Ebony planned to save Napkin with a bite on the leg. However, when he got closer to the wolf, it was still as a statue gnawing on Napkin's fuzzy tail.

Ebony didn't think about whether Napkin was finished; he chewed on the toe of the wolf. His pernicious nibble was all for the greater good of the warren. Even though he hopped over Napkin he still hoped he was fine, the black-faced rabbit was not chased by one, but two wolves; the one who was gnawing on Redder had ripped off the front paws off the red-furred rabbit's corpse.

Ebony didn't look back. Worrying about his tail being caught would just make it harder to outrun the very fast, and much bigger, wolves. Frith still blessed them to be the greatest elil rabbits have. By some miracle, Ebony reached a cliff and jumped off...only to land on a smaller cliff of protruding rocks. He was perched safely below the wolves.

The wolves stared down at Ebony for several heartbeats, before turning away.

"I'm alive!" he thought to himself. He quickly checked himself over; he had not sustained any major injuries, only a few scratches here and there. However, he was covered in Redder's blood.

The screams that came from across the cliff told him that the warren had met a gruesome end. He broke down in tears, "I'm sorry I let all of you down! It should've been me!"

His ears dropped and he lowered his head; tears started streaming from his face, his sobs almost being drowned out by the cries of rabbits being devoured. The silence afterwards was even worse.

Suddenly a wave of energy overpowered his sorrow.

"Self-pity won't do anything!" he said to himself, "I'm going to survive! I'm not going to die that easily! The Thousand may have taken my friends, but they'll never take me!"

He stared at the woods ahead. He knew that a perilous journey was going to take place, but he simply laughed. They could break his bones, but they could never break his spirit.

He took one hop towards the woods and stopped; the forest was much more intimidating than it was a few seconds ago. He half-questioned whether he should head back and feed himself to the wolves.

"No." His survival instincts were more powerful.

He took one more step into the forest. "Maybe this isn't so bad after all."

He took another and then another, and soon he found himself making progress towards a goal he himself could not understand, but knew was right.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I do not own Watership Down

**Thank you Coney cuniculus for helping me write this chapter. I heard the 1970 Watership Down was better than the Netflix one and, in my humble opinion, although Netflix botched up a few scenes it's remake had more satisfying moments so there. Please enjoy my second chapter. **

He pushed onward even though he could feel a sharp pain jabbing at his paws; his legs argued with him to let him lay down, But he refused. He had to continue, knowing that if he stopped for too long he could end up dead meat. He trudged on even though the sun was setting and the path before him drowned in the darkness. It hungrily devoured everything in front of him until all he could see were basic shapes that broke the moonlight.

A gust of wind swept through the trees and washed over Ebony's fur, stirring it lightly and causing him to shiver. *_I've got to get someplace warm. And fast_* he thought to himself.

The air had turned from a pleasant warmth to a harsh cold. He could already feel his paws starting to tingle from the lack of heat. He breathed breaths of mist and fog. The icy cold air nipped at his lungs and throat to the point where he found it hard to breathe.

He stopped for only a second to catch his breath. He slowly drew in each breath into his frosted lungs. He sat there shivering; a hole in the trees softly illuminated the area he was standing in with a pale white glow.

A faint flash of something moving caught his eye. He stiffened up, preparing to bolt if the thing advanced.

He sat still for several seconds, praying that whatever just had moved was friendly, or at least he would be able to outrun it. Finally, he worked up the courage to speak.

"W-who are y-you?" He shivered, his teeth chattering.

Several more seconds passed by. A light breeze blew through the tree again causing Ebony to tremble even more. Then, finally, a voice spoke and caused him to jump in surprise

"Who are you?" The voice had a calm air to it, "You look lost."

Ebony waited a few seconds before speaking, "C-c-could you stand out in the light, please? I can't see you in the dark."

A rustling of leaves and a snapping of twigs was heard, then at the edge of the moon's light, where it succumbed to darkness, a rabbit head appeared; it was light gray and a pigment of back sat atop the tip of its ears. It spoke.

"Hello! you seem cold. Here come! Come!" He beckoned for Ebony to follow him into the dark. The rabbit noticed Ebony's hesitation.

"Come on! You'll freeze to death out here! Follow me"

Ebony followed the stranger out of the light of the moon. They traveled less than three hops to the stranger rabbits scraps.

"Get inside," The stranger said. Ebony obeyed.

The scrape the strange had built was large enough for both of them and even had room for each of them to move around.

Ebony was relieved that he was finally out of the wind and cold, he could slowly feel the warmth coming back to his paws.

"Thank you. I don't think I caught your name," Ebony said

"Its Blackcurrant" He replied, "How did you find yourself in these woods?

Ebony and Blackcurrant exchanged stories about how they each ended up to where they were now. As it turned out Blackcurrant was part of the owsla of his warren and he ended up getting lost in the woods one patrol. He had made the scrape days ago and was using it as a temporary living space until he could find his warren again. The warren he was a part of was named "Sandleford". Upon hearing that Ebony's warren had been destroyed Blackcurrant agreed that if Ebony helped him with finding his warren Ebony would be allowed to live in Sandleford. Ebony was delighted.

"But we could be eons away from the warren, It took me days to end up here," Blackcurrant said with a hint of agitation in his voice.

"I will travel for seasons if I must! I'm not going to die in these woods! Mark my words!"


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I do not own Watership Down

**No one helped me write or edit this chapter, but I did write it to a coauthor friend of mine. I hope that this chapter isn't too weird for you avid readers. **

All Rabbits grow up learning danger isn't what you see in front of you. The only way to survive this looming danger was to keep moving and never stop even in the face of certain death.

"Why are you heading the way I just came from?" Blackcurrant asked Ebony.

"Terribly sorry we have to follow your worn down paw prints. I haven't gone far from a burrow and a field of flowers to nibble on my whole life. The world is vast and uncertain to me, but going where you trekked will help me see more of the world safely and you notice things you didn't before."

"But your not realizing one thing. I went away from there because I couldn't find any spot not being scoured by man or full or predators. Heading back there is the same as leading yourself with me dragged along to our doom." Blackcurrant replied.

Ebony knew his decision wasn't vapid, but he was wrong about there not being any place to settle where he came from. All Ebony had to do was reach the beginning of Blackcurrant's journey and take a few steps further.

The two Bucks stopped. They were near a cave only a rabbit could fit through.

This cylindrical metallic entrance was a good hiding spot, but a Buck wouldn't last a day inside there. They would only need it if the situation demanded it. The hair on the nape of Ebony's pelt started constricting and his blood turned cold. Even at the volume of the wind blowing, he heard dogs bark.

"Quickly, get into that cave!" Ebony ordered.

"What?" Blackcurrant asked.

"Leading you here was my fault, so it's my responsibility to get you to safety first. Move!"

Blackcurrant hopped like Homba's were after him. He made it safely inside, but Ebony was standing up on his two paws.

"It's near Ni-Frith, get your tail in here!" Blackcurrant shouted.

Ebony was tranced by what he saw. It happened sometimes to Buck's seeing a Hrair of different animals or Flay the size of fifteen burrows. This excitement didn't last long, Ebony got back in his defensive form and leaped inside.

What could be heard outside was non-standable, non-Lapine, but it sounded like hulking creatures communicating.

"You lost us that kitten and his Buck guardian! Find us something soon, or we will have chew both your balls off!"

Ebony and Blackcurrant heard loud noises, but what Elil they saw was as big as them. A dog with a curled tail and charcoal eyes the size of a rabbit maybe a Hare was sniffing the ground. It wasn't a dog owned by the humans, those small balls under its tail would've been chopped off by now.

The little dog was speaking out loud, but none of it was understandable to Ebony or Blackcurrant. The dog didn't look at them, but something about the way it ran away from the cave told them he was going to get his pack and knew where the two were hiding.

"Ready to listen to something foolish and reckless?" Ebony asked Blackcurrant.

"Why stop now?" Blackcurrant said sarcastically.

"Where that dog was, we need to sprint out there and run either back where we came from or just straight ahead. There's too many dogs out there to go in their direction."

"Why can't we just run out the other side? This cave must lead somewhere."

"Blocking us will be there first plane at capturing us. With a small dog in their pack, when we die of hunger they'll use him to pull our lifeless bodies out. The only way to live is to escape from here now."

Blackcurrant couldn't utter another word before Ebony moved out of the cave. Blackcurrant didn't hesitate but didn't concur following Ebony out. They were now two Buck's moving fast and moving in different directions while moving fast.

Behind them was what was called in the Lapine language a Hrair of dogs. Black, brown, blond gold, and white with clovers covering its left eye.

Ebony made sure Blackcurrant was in the lead. Although it looked like they were both going to soon be caught and clenched down by all four dogs, there was a bigger predator who dogs couldn't help confront and who would eat them unless the dogs were smart enough to run.

It was finally time for them to upset something for a good cause. Hidden in the trees was a living Elil reaching for Flay of honey. Ebony got close to it and took a chomp at it's calcaneal tendon. The beast roared from more the surprise someone would interrupt its dinner than the pain it felt being bitten.

Ebony didn't look back. The great beast roared loud enough to be heard from half the forest. This roar was what made the dogs stop chasing the two Buck's.

Ebony heard the last fatal cry of the smallest dog as its life was being crushed by the big paws of the dogs Elil. To avenge his death, the other dogs jumped on the bear only for another one to be caught in its jaws.

Ebony and Blackcurrant stopped running like their lives depended on it.

Every rabbit knew that being afraid and running out of fear too long could cause their heart to race and eventually die. Ebony waited until his breath wasn't so worm out before apologizing.

"I'm sorry we had to be in danger like that. I thought moving back where you came would be safer than moving forward through an ominous land."

"It's alright. At least we both made it out in one peace. Although, I'm worried there won't be any rabbits we can find and help."

Blackcurrant was right about how hard it was to find rabbits. That was until they reached a river. Ebony could cross water, he liked to try leaving the warren by crossing water. He eventually learned.

They weren't alone near this river. There was a dark fur rabbit with white speckles with a white with black spot kitten. Most rabbits didn't live to see their kittens become fathers, but this one was an exception.


End file.
